6 years for beating senior to death

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has sentenced a 17-year-old boy to six years in prison for his part in the vicious beatings of two Indo-Canadian seniors in a Surrey park in July 2005.

The youth was found guilty of manslaughter, aggravated assault and robbery after he and another teen attacked the two elderly men with baseball bats in two separate attacks at Surrey's Bear Creek Park.

Shingara Singh Thandi, 76, died of his injuries three weeks later in hospital. Mewa Singh Bains, 83, died of a stroke a month after the brutal attack.

In delivering his sentence at the New Westminster courthouse on Thursday, Justice William Grist said he considered the extreme youth of the boy,even though he's been sentenced as an adult.

But the judge said he also considered the magnitude of the crime, noting that both seniors died following the beatings.

The youth,who has been in custody for almost two years, will now have to serve another four years.

The Crown had asked for a six-year sentence.

Murder reduced to manslaughter

After their arrests, the pair were charged with second-degree murder in connection with Thandi's death, but it was reduced to manslaughter after the judge said they didn't have the experience or foresight to show murderous intent.

The two teens were not charged with Bains's death because it could not be linked directly to the attack.

The pair cannot be identified because they were 13 and 15 when they attacked the seniors.

The younger teen was previously sentenced to three years in custody, the maximum sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The families of the victims say they are not satisfied with the outcome of the case and hope there will be an appeal filed this fall on the judge's decision to downgrade the murder charge.